Her eyes are jungle camouflage, her tidal laughter
breaks in waves when nothing is amusing,
mysteries are woven in her hair.

The witch blows thirteen rainbowed bubbles
that float and drift and cocoa pop with words—

gringo louco
crazy gringo thinks too much
everything is always
as it is

From a trumpet tree, I saw three parakeets
take flight—
an omen, clear as feathers.
Before the edge of night,
I’ll take a coach, I’ll break her spell,
return to my reliable southern past.

In the lab, with telescopes and microscopes,
I’ll watch the nano-city growing,
proto people, apartment stacks,
linear streets and buses,
to work and back in reciprocal commutation.
I’ll never miss a beat of life in miniature, never notice
my imprisonment.

But here, beyond the urban masquerade,
wisps of clouds will race to catch the sun,
the frogs will croak their serenade
to distant samba drums,
the blushing moon will sink in Lake Serene,
its broken light for fireflies
to chase, and on the shore
the witch of Itapuã in white
will wait beneath the palms.

~/~

On second thoughts, all things considered,
someone has to feed the chooks.

I think I’ll stay with her tonight.

background
taking liberties with physics and geography

For any witch/warlock interested in Brazilian spell casting, macumba or candomblé, the outfit is key, here are some examples. Legal disclosure: I have no connection with Mercado Livre and haven’t received a promotional payment from them, although I wouldn’t complain if I did.

Yes, I agree, I mean, some of those stories really are an inexplicable choice for children imho.
But this is such a great piece! (regardless of where one lies on the “like” spectrum of such things, I just love your creativity. Obviously haha)

Everything’s weird with the glasses on, like 6D, two worlds superimposed. It’s handy at Gleebooks, twice as many books to browse, although half of them are in a sort of mirror language. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I wore two pairs of 3D glasses. But people stare enough already.

Going from 3D to 6D doubles the alcohol content in most drinks, so stronger taste. This is all starting to sound very reasonable to me, which is a bad sign, hologram or not. I’d better call it a night before I write something silly hahaha …